Hey gamblers: Your numbers might be up

Published 10:00 pm, Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Someone out there is a whole lot richer and doesn't know it yet -- or at least hasn't come forward to make it public.

On Tuesday, that person stopped at the North Bend Safeway on Southwest Mount Si Boulevard and bought a Mega Millions lottery ticket with the numbers 6, 18, 20, 28, 38 and Megaball number 37.

What they did after that is a mystery. The ticket could be in a purse, wallet, drawer, glove box or rain gutter, but if it can be found, the purchaser should find a chair to sit on.

They're $55 million better off.

The winning Mega Millions numbers were announced Tuesday, and only one ticket bears the winning numbers.

So far, no one has claimed the jackpot.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they take a few days," said Jacque Coe, a spokeswoman for Washington's Lottery. "Right now we're trying to get the word out to everyone who bought a ticket to please, please, please check their tickets."

Since the ticket was bought near heavily traveled Interstate 5 and Snoqualmie Pass over the mountains, Coe said the ticket could be anywhere.

When the buyer discovers they have the winning ticket, they should sign the back, keep it in a safe place away from heat and call the lottery office during business hours.

"And then get ready to have a lot less financial stress and a lot more walking around money," Coe said.

Lottery employees start to worry when several weeks go by without the winning ticket surfacing, she said. Winners have 180 days to claim their prize before it goes back into the lottery.

This is the second time a single Mega Millions jackpot has been won in Washington state since it started in 2002. Later that year, Dick and Pat Warren of Hoquiam won $93 million.

"Keep it cool, keep your sense of humor and don't take it too seriously," Pat Warren advised the latest winner in a statement released by Washington's Lottery on Wednesday. "Don't make any big decisions for at least a year."

The store that sold the ticket will also share in the windfall with a $50,000 bonus from Washington's Lottery.

A spokeswoman for Safeway could not be reached Wednesday evening, but in the past, the company has donated its bonus to benefit breast cancer research, Coe said.